Monday was our first full day in Valencia and what a busy day it was! Our classes are split between two language academies – AIP academy in the morning and CSS Valencia academy in the afternoon. We had breakfast with our host families and our host mother or father accompanied each of us to AIP academy, showing us the way. All of us live within a short distance of both academies.
We got there 08:30, to sit our level tests which determined which level of class we would be in. The 5 of us were split into 4 different levels – Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate and Upper-Intermediate. Once that was done, we went straight into classes at 09:00 to get to know our teacher and our fellow classmates, who are from all over the world. After lunch, we went to the CSS Valencia academy for a more specialised conversation class, specifically for our CSS group, where we had a class with Marta which was a lot a fun!
In the evening we went on a walking tour of the city centre with Carla, the CSS Activities Officer. She showed us how to use the metro to get around, where to get the nicest ice-cream and also the historic city centre. We saw some wonderful old building including the Plaza de Toros (bull ring), the Ayuntamiento (town hall), La Lonja (a very impressive merchants’ market and UNESCO world heritage site) and the cathedral. We also got to climb 300 steps to the top of the Miguelete, the beautiful bell-tower of Valencia Cathedral, where we were able to enjoy some wonderful views of the old city. At the end of the day Carla took us back to Benimaclet metro station and made sure we were able to make it back to our homes. We have a WhatsApp group for all the participants on the CSS Valencia programme and we sent each other buenas noches messages from home.
Day 1 – #Butterflies